“Bridgwater curry house loses licence in immigrant worker row”

A restaurant on Bridgwater’s ‘Celebration Mile’ has been stripped of its licence after illegal immigrants were found to be working there.
The Spice Club Indian restaurant and takeaway is based at 10 Eastover (in the heart of the ongoing roadworks) and has held its current premises licence since July 2021.

The restaurant was visited three times by Home Office immigration enforcement teams between 2019 and 2024, with people found to be working illegally on-site on all three occasions.

The first two visits by immigration officials occurred on June 27, 2019 and October 17, 2019 respectively – back when the restaurant was run by Muhammad Abdur Rahim as part of his wider business, Mar Catering Ltd…

Under new licence holder Abul Kalam (who took over in July 2021), the restaurant seemed to turn around its fortunes, winning Best Restaurant at the Curry Life Awards in October 2023.

But following a third visit, on September 5, 2024, the Home Office formally requested in April 2025 that the council revoke the restaurant’s licence…

Ms Sykes said the staff in question had been housed above the restaurant, some of them rent-free or with free food, in “poor conditions” with small rooms and damp on the walls…

“Bridgwater curry house loses licence in immigrant worker row”

A restaurant on Bridgwater’s ‘Celebration Mile’ has been stripped of its licence after illegal immigrants were found to be working there.
The Spice Club Indian restaurant and takeaway is based at 10 Eastover (in the heart of the ongoing roadworks) and has held its current premises licence since July 2021.

The restaurant was visited three times by Home Office immigration enforcement teams between 2019 and 2024, with people found to be working illegally on-site on all three occasions.

The first two visits by immigration officials occurred on June 27, 2019 and October 17, 2019 respectively – back when the restaurant was run by Muhammad Abdur Rahim as part of his wider business, Mar Catering Ltd…

Under new licence holder Abul Kalam (who took over in July 2021), the restaurant seemed to turn around its fortunes, winning Best Restaurant at the Curry Life Awards in October 2023.

But following a third visit, on September 5, 2024, the Home Office formally requested in April 2025 that the council revoke the restaurant’s licence…

Ms Sykes said the staff in question had been housed above the restaurant, some of them rent-free or with free food, in “poor conditions” with small rooms and damp on the walls…